Add beams

That was the first time I commented on this thread. I think asking what you are doing is offering to be very patient. My intention was to explain why what you are doing is wrong and how to do it correctly. If I thought you were bothering me I would never have commented. You are obviously very confused about what you are doing and I was offering to help.

I will start by explaining a time signature. The bottom number tells you the duration of a beat. 8 means 1/8 note, 4 means 1/4 note and so on. The top number tells you how many of the beats are in a measure. So 3/4 time means a measure has three 1/4 notes in it. 6/8 has six 1/8 notes in a measure. The difference between the two have to do with the beaming and the slight emphasis a real musician will put on the down beats. A time signature of C is called common time. It is included in the basic time signature pallet. It can be thought of as identical to 4/4 in modern music notation. The C with a line through it is called cut time and can be thought of as 2/2 time - 2 half notes per measure.

Beats can be combined to make longer notes, such as two 1/4 notes make a 1/2 note. There is nothing wrong with several measures of 1/2 notes in 4/4 time for example. Notes can also be split into smaller note. So a 1/4 note can be split into two 1/8 notes or four 1/16 notes and so on. As with longer notes, there is nothing wrong with having several measures of nothing but 1/8 and 1/16 notes in them.

In the case of your other post with a picture. The first measure is called a pickup measure. Even though the time signature is C (four 1/4 notes) it only has a single 1/8 note in it. When you create a new score there is an option of having a pickup measure. Check the box, put a 1 in the square before the "/" then click the 4 after it so the drop down appears and click the 8. Musicians understand the first measure often has fewer beats than the rest of the measures. There are other ways to do this in MuseScore, but I think it's best to just do it at the beginning to make it easier at the moment.

As far as entering notes are concerned. Since I suspect you are not real comfortable with the note names, here's how to best enter the notes. Click the first rest where you want to start entering notes. Press N to start Note entry mode. Either press 4 (to set the duration to an 1/8 note) or click the 1/8 icon on the toolbar at the top of the screen. Next, move the mouse so the blue dot indicating where the note will be placed to the proper spot - it will look like it is in the same spot at the rest, this is expected. For the next note, move the blue dot to the next rest and place it where the note belongs. By the time you enter the third note in your score, you will see the beams start to appear. The rests will change according to the notes you enter so you always have 4 beats in the measure (in you score you posted). If you are comfortable with the note names then press A for an A, B for a B and so on. For now, I would suggest you click the sharps, flats and naturals on the toolbar after you enter the note to add any accidentals. Do not forget that if the next note has a different duration, change it before you enter the note. I would suggest for now that if you make an error, just press back space to delete it and fix it. Also, t0 enter a rest, press the duration and press 0 while still in note entry mode and that rest will appear and the entry point will move to the next spot. You need to get used to entering notes before you worry about more advanced techniques. Your score is relatively simple to enter and you should learn a lot about MuseScore entering it.

For now, enter it as the source score has it. Once the score is completely entered ask how to transpose it, and someone will tell you (I'll make a point to watch for you).

I'm going to bed now, so I hope this will help you get started. You are learning something new, so don't expect to be able to do everything correctly from the first time you try. The biggest help you have is the handbook. It explains everything you need to enter this score. There are really no advanced techniques necessary at all.

You can actually change time signature any time you want.

Please watch the tutorial video again to learn how to enter notes correctly. The steps are always as follows: first enter note input mode, then select the duration for a note, then enter the pitch for that note. So, to enter eight eighth notes - regardless of what time signature you are in, simply do the following exactly:

1) click the desired measure
2) press the Note Input button (or press "N" on your keyboard)
3) select the eighth note duration (or press "4" on your keyboard)
4) click on the staff where you want first note to appear (or type its name, like "C")
5) click on the the staff where you want the second note to appear (or type its name, like "D")
6) keep clicking or typing to enter more eighth notes

It's as simple as that. Works every single time without fail if you follow those steps. You don;t need to add beams manually - if you enter eighth notes, MuseScore already know when and how to create the necessary beams.